Dowd Travels: Still in Barcelona

We had big plans for leaving the city today to visit Montserrat, a famous mountain with lots of interesting things to see. We got up, had breakfast, and were off to the cave of information. This was an information desk under a statue near the port. We were trying to make the 11:30 train, so we had to hustle. Through the metro station, upstairs, downstairs, down long corridors, accordian music playing. It felt like we were in a strange movie. After taking the metro a couple of stops we navigated through the train station only to find that there was a railroad worker strike and they would not be having any trains that day to Montserrat. The man told us to come back tomorrow, but we would be leaving to fly back to Madrid tomorrow. Fail. So, we went back through the stations and returned to the cave of information to get a refund. Turns out the cave of information didn’t provide much information at all.

Well we had the rest of the day to wander the city, so we took a walk to an outdoor market that had everything you could think of: fruit, vegetables, meat and fish of every kind, candy, chocolates, and much more. It was enormous! I had a strawberry and coconut juice, absolutely lovely.

The day was beautiful and warmer than it had been, so we walked for what seemed like forever to a couple of Gaudi museums. We didn’t go in, but instead admired them from the outside. The streets were lined with expensive shops and outdoor cafes. Again, it made me think that I would really like to live here.

After a really long walk, we headed over to find the Picasso museum, but not before we found a cute little place for lunch. It was awesome. We had pita and hummus, pasta with fresh tomato and basil sauce, mozzarella with tomatoes and pesto, and prawns in an avocado and aioli sauce. Yummy!

It was so good, I forgot to take a picture when it looked pretty.

On to the Picasso museum. About half of the museum was closed for some reason, so we saw some of the lesser known work and the blue period. It made me think of elementary school art projects, so perhaps my students can do some work with cubism when I get back. The owl continues to follow us around because there was pottery this time that had owl on it. I would have taken a picture, but I had already gotten in trouble earlier for taking pictures in the museum. I did get a couple though.

Taken before I got in trouble for taking pictures.

After the museum I was completely exhausted and needed a nap, so we headed back to the hotel, and I immediately fell asleep. I really haven’t adjusted from my jetlag, and my sinuses are really bothering me today. After my nap, we got ready and headed out to find a place for dinner.

We decided on Taxedermista, yup I think we ate at a restaurant named after one of the strangest professions. It didn’t bother me though. The music was an excellent mix of Spanish accordian and American 50’s, especially the song about the cheetah. We had a goat cheese salad with mango vinagrette and a prawn pallea, both fantastic. After a short walk, it was back to the hotel to pack up again, blog, and go to bed.